Kayo
by Gumnut
Summary: She was practised in stealth. She was trained. She knew what she was doing. Marks Universe. Virgil/Kayo


Title: Kayo

Marks series

Author: Gumnut

11 - 12 Jun 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: She was practised in stealth. She was trained. She knew what she was doing.

Word count: 2104

Spoilers & warnings: Virgil/Kayo, Wing!fic.

Timeline: Long before the first two stories in this series, but it might pay to read the other fic first to get an idea of the universe.

Author's note: For vegetacide cos I think she'll like the content :D This is part of the Marks universe. I know I have a pile of other WIPs awaiting my attention, but I didn't want to think too hard tonight and just wanted something to play with the senses, so this happened. Thank you for tolerating my delusions and I hope you enjoy this :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You've got to be kidding. Money? Don't have any, don't bother.

-o-o-o-

The ground was still wet from the morning rain and the dead vegetation stuck to her sandals. She crept as quietly as she could and considering her training, she was silent.

She followed him.

Part of her felt bad. Was she a voyeur, watching from afar?

She wasn't sure of the label, but she did know she had to do this.

Scrappy rainforest and palm trees. She hid behind rocks and peered through bushes as he made his way to the beach. She knew where he was going.

She had done this before.

For him it was routine.

For her it was new.

And it felt wrong. Forbidden.

But he went.

And she followed.

It was a beach on the far side of the island. The sand was a marble of black volcanic dust and white coral detritus, the two colours sparring into a complicated pattern of swirls. The incoming swell was fractured by reefs offshore and only one wave in ten had any great impact on the sand, but due to the morning storm, there was wrack scattered the length of the high tide mark.

As always, he strode onto the beach and began his workout by stretching. He shed his shirt, his broad shoulders gleaming in the evening light.

His mark shimmered.

She stared at it.

All the Tracy sons had marks. She had seen them in action many times from their earliest manifestation, but there was something about his that drew her eyes.

Eyes that shouldn't be looking that way at a brother.

She didn't let the sigh out as he lifted one arm and then the next, stretching back muscles.

They shifted in the light.

Fine tracings of dark feathers were sketched over his biceps almost to his elbows. The mark wrapped around his ribcage and splayed out across his lower back, the very tips disappearing into the waistband of his low hung shorts.

So much black. So much shimmering ink.

But it wasn't ink. It was wasn't a tattoo. It was part of him.

She had this urge to touch it. To feel the fine tracings, run her fingers over the ghostly shapes of feathers hidden in his skin.

He finished his stretching and set off for a short jog down the beach.

Kayo settled back and checked her position for visibility.

Was it wrong to use her skills on a brother for purposes that were far from sisterly?

Half of her was screaming at the other half, accusing in her deceit. She should approach this from a better angle. Approach him. Talk.

But she couldn't.

What if?

What if he looked at her in disgust? Or horror?

What if she broke the relationship they already had?

She loved the man as a brother. She loved all her brothers. The Tracys were her family. They were all she had. The risk was too great.

But here she was.

Watching the second eldest, half naked, alone on a beach, wanting him in a way a sister never should.

Her eyes closed a moment.

Calm.

She should go and never come back.

He had reached the end of the beach and was returning, his whole body in motion.

She stared.

He wasn't as tall as his brothers, but he was stocky, solid and strong. She had seen him lift weights and people. His exo-suit only expanded on his natural skill. She had seen him tear through obstacles to get to people in need. She had seen those muscles save souls like the angel he appeared to be.

A swallow.

God, he was beautiful.

But that wasn't what attracted her to him. He was lovely to watch, but the person inside that body was far more beautiful.

She's seen him hold a baby. His large, gloved fingers gently cradling a tiny head, his voice a gentle rumble reassuring until he could return the child to its mother. She's seen him risk everything to catch a man falling out of the sky. She's seen him risk even more to save a brother, to save her. She's seen his fingers on piano keys and covered in paint. She's heard him sing, she's seen him laugh, she's seen him cry, she's seen him with bed hair and half asleep before his mandatory morning coffee. She's seen him asleep, exhausted and drooling on the couch.

She's watched him for a long time.

And now...

Pushups.

She found herself counting them as his shoulders flexed, his mark rippling with the rhythm.

Then more stretching.

The breeze wafted through the trees and teased the few loose strands of her hair around her face. Her skin tingled.

On the beach, Virgil straightened up, before hunching forward just a little.

She drew in a breath. This was out of the ordinary. He didn't usually do this.

Her eyes widened as he lifted his feathers from his skin, the wind catching them immediately, the softer down fluttering as his primaries lifted stiffly.

Folded, his wings brushed the ground, but he rarely left them that way. True to form, the moment they fully manifested, he spread them, stretching his flight muscles and splaying his great feathers.

Glossy, iridescent black, they shone in echo of his mark. A green flickered across the sheen, a violet, to disappear into the deepest shadow. Of all his brothers, Virgil's wingspan was the largest. It was logical as the engineer's body had the greatest mass and needed the strongest lift.

And like the man they lifted, they were stunning.

Kayo adored seeing those wings. On the ground or in flight, they were mesmerising.

She, like most people, had no mark and could only sit and watch her brothers reach for the sky, or in Gordon's special case, seek out the oceans. There was envy. She had no doubt that no one could look upon the Tracy men without some kind of longing. But the nature of her brothers, the way they shared their lives to save others...there was no grandstanding or superiority. The marks were treated as everyday and only as an advantage if they so happened to be in a particular scenario.

Watching them glide at leisure through the Island's sky...

She lived amongst unassuming wonders.

Virgil flapped his wings once, twice, stirring up the sand around him, before taking a running leap into the air. That first great downstroke tossed up the sand below him and threw him into the sky.

She couldn't take her eyes off him. Beat after beat he climbed up into the slowly forming pinks of the sunset until his flight stabilised enough for him to swoop into a glide, little more than a dark shadow silhouetted by the sun.

Banking, he disappeared behind the headland.

Kayo wilted. His absence like cutting strings on a puppet.

She swallowed, again questioning her sanity at doing this.

What if he realised she was there? What would he think?

A large wave hit the beach with a clap and a dissipating hiss. She blinked.

What was she going to do?

Her feelings had become such that she reacted when he walked into a room. She found herself hiding from him to hide her reactions to him.

What if he noticed?

But he wouldn't. She was practised in stealth. She was trained. She knew what she was doing.

A twig snapped.

She spun and her world collapsed around her.

Virgil stood amongst the palms, staring at her, his expression unreadable. He had let his wings go, but the sunset was casting contrasts and golden highlights so he was haloed by shadow.

"I should have known I couldn't sneak up on you." His baritone was self effacing, his lips curled up in a small smile.

"Virgil." His name fell from her lips.

"Yes?" He tilted his head, that smile spreading. "I hope you have been enjoying the view."

Her eyes narrowed, determined not to be mocked. "I have. We have some lovely palm trees on the island."

His smile twisted into a smirk and he approached slowly until he was directly in front of her. She felt the urge to run, to get away, but Kayo Kyrano had faced worse in her life.

His brown eyes were caught by the gold of the sunset and it set them aflame. She found herself mesmerised by them.

God, Kayo, this is ridiculous.

She ignored herself.

He didn't say anything, but his eyes did flicker with hesitation for just a moment before she saw resolution and determination set in.

"I hope you liked what you saw." His voice was rough.

Barely a whisper. "Yes."

His hand landed on her arm, warm fingers wrapping around her bare shoulder. His thumb caressed her skin. She shivered and he was suddenly so very close. She could smell his after shave, see the fine detail of the mark tracings on his shoulders.

Oh.

"Kay?"

She wasn't sure what he was asking for, but he could have it. "Yes."

His lips were on hers. Warm, ever so warm, his tongue...oh.

She lost herself to his touch, and he drew her in. One hand on the small of back, the other touching her neck and climbing into her hair. She touched the bare skin of his waist, but then her fingers brushed over the fine relief of feather tracings on his back.

A gasp and he broke off. "Kay." Her name was hoarse.

She withdrew her hand immediately.

He caught it. "No." He kissed her fingers. "It's okay."

Her fingers were returned to his waist and he kissed her again, his breath hot on her lips.

"Virgil." Whispered into his mouth.

He drew back. "I'm sorry." A step and he was removing himself from her embrace.

She grabbed at him. "No, don't." She caught his hand and pulled him back in. She held his fingers between her two hands and couldn't help but look down at them. So strong. So capable.

"I thought...I knew you were watching...and, well, I..." And there was the adorable brother she knew.

Brother.

God, this was hard.

She reached up and cupped his cheek, catching his eyes, now in shadow as the sun was setting. "I want this." A swallow. "I want you."

His lips parted just a little and she wanted to kiss them again.

He was watching her, his mind working behind his eyes. What was he thinking? A spark of fear that this was all going to collapse around her.

Those lips found hers again and she was surrounded by his strong arms, held ever so close against his bare chest, yet so gently.

Her mind whited out.

-o-o-o-

They lay together on the sand and watched the stars come out.

"How long?" Her voice was quiet. She was curled up against his chest, his arm wrapped around her, his warmth ever so comforting.

"A long time. Almost forever." Wistful. "Would you believe Scott pointed it out to me?"

"What?"

"Asked me if I had interests in you as a woman rather than as a sister." His cheek lay against her hair and she could feel him smile. "I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but from the moment he mentioned it, I couldn't get you out of my head."

"So I should be thanking Scott?"

"Possibly, but I would like to think I would have worked it out for myself eventually."

It was her turn to smile. "So why didn't you ask me?"

"And risk everything?" His tone hinted at fear and she placed her hand on his chest, fingers catching in dark hair. "No, I was waiting for you."

"Sorry, I took so long."

A kiss in her hair. "I'm just happy to finally hold you."

Whispered. "Same."

Evening turned to night and she found herself clinging to him, not wanting it to end. Irrationally fearful that it would all evaporate with the new day.

"Kay?" She turned to him and he kissed her. "Whatever this is, whatever happens..." His eyes caught hers. "I will always love you, no matter what."

Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at him unable to answer. His hand came up and caressed her cheek. "You will always be important to me, whether you're my sister or..." He smiled. "...something else."

"S-same." Her voice was barely there. He was little more than shadows in the starlight, The faint spark of reflection in his eyes dancing in the dark.

He hugged her just that touch closer and she found herself clinging to him.

This was her chance. This was the risk.

This was everything

-o-o-o-


End file.
